Daily Dothttp://www.dailydot.com/Daily Dot Articleen-usWed, 20 Jul 2011 13:59:01 +0000Debate rages over indicted Reddit developerhttp://www.dailydot.com/news/debate-indicted-reddit-developer/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/4a/8e/4a8e80b36309b55269199257792724ca.jpg'></p><p>After more than eight hours of debate between a Reddit cofounder and some New York Times reporters on the official title of one its former employees, some questions have been answered while others have been raised.<br /><br />With a <a href="https://plus.google.com/113164038788726940319/posts/9NUWmu2c9pq">resounding &ldquo;no,&rdquo;</a> Reddit cofounder <a href="http://alexisohanian.com/">Alexis Ohanian</a> proclaimed that former Reddit employee Aaron Swartz, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yVwJaiWu426_9dyQLBCLdUaRcPyooSpImiWSRKUo3mA/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailydot.com%2Fnews%2Faaron-swartz-jstor-mit-hack-arrest%2F">who was in the news Tuesday over a computer hacking scandal</a>, was never a cofounder of the <a href="http://thenextweb.com/media/2011/02/02/reddit-hits-1-billion-page-views-per-month/">insanely popular site</a>.<br /><br />The argument was started after <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/reddit-co-founder-charged-with-data-theft/">Nick Bilton of the Times called Swartz a cofounder in his article</a> on the 24-year-old&rsquo;s indictment. Instead of clearing up the mess behind closed doors, Bilton, his editor <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/david_f_gallagher/index.html">David Gallagher</a> and Ohanian took to <a href="https://plus.google.com/113164038788726940319/posts/9NUWmu2c9pq">Google+ to work it out</a>.<br /><br />&ldquo;FYI, Aaron claims that he was a cofounder of Reddit, noting on his personal website: &lsquo;He also cofounded the online news site Reddit,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bilton wrote.<br /><br />&ldquo;If you made him a cofounder I think he oughta be able to call himself a cofounder, whether or not it results in headlines that might alarm your mother. But whatever,&rdquo; said Gallagher.<br /><br />Gallagher bolstered his claim with an <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070823200504/http://startupstories.com/2006/11/29/passion-for-your-users-will-come-back-alexis-ohanian-co-founder-of-reddit/">interview Ohanian did in August 2007 for StartupStories</a> where he said that shortly after the site was created, &ldquo; Aaron basically moved in with us and we made him a cofounder.&rdquo;<br /><br />Ohanian responded with an <a href="http://alexisohanian.com/keep-calm-carry-on-what-you-didnt-know-about">11 month old blog post he made about Reddit&rsquo;s humble beginnings</a>. In it Ohanian states that he and college friend Steve Huffman co-founded the site. Ohanian also claims that legal acquisition documents do not name Swartz as cofounder.<br /><br />In the end, Gallagher was a bit apologetic yet unconvinced that Swartz was not a Reddit cofounder.<br /><br />&ldquo;Sorry for the snark,&rdquo; Gallagher wrote. &ldquo;Just to clarify: At some point did Aaron come to some agreement with you whereby he was entitled to call himself a cofounder (not creator or founding member or original founder) of Reddit?&rdquo;<br /><br />Three hours later, Ohanian responded.<br /><br />&ldquo;I don't know how else to answer your questions other than flatly: no,&rdquo; he said, <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d2njs/til_there_was_a_third_cofounder_of_reddit_who_was/c0x40yz">citing an 11-month-old Reddit post where Huffman, who goes by spez on Reddit, stated the same thing</a>.<br /><br />While it seems like the question of who started Reddit has been addressed, others could use some answering. For example, in light of the<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/movies/19social.html?scp=14&amp;sq=eduardo%20saverin&amp;st=cse"> public quarrel between Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin</a> over the entrepreneur's status with the company, how important is it for organizations to nail down their history? And was this Reddit cofounder debate blown out of proportion?<br /><br />Swartz has said that if Ohanian and Huffman asked him to stop calling himself a cofounder, he would. Ohanian, reached by phone, later clarified that he "regretted" the statement he made to StartupStories.com and that he would, indeed, like Swartz to stop calling himself a cofounder of Reddit. Ohanian also <a href="https://plus.google.com/113164038788726940319/posts/HJz9Vd58Wtb">elaborated on the subject of cofounders on his Google+ account</a>.</p><dd.feed.feeds.NoneAuthor object at 0x7f9856a3a9d0>Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:59:01 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/news/debate-indicted-reddit-developer/NewsReddit